In the Red Zone: Week 11 down, 6 to go Published Nov. 24, 2010 By Bryan Swink Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- I think I finally started figuring this crazy football season out last week as I picked 13 of the 16 games correctly. With that being said, I won't ever pick the Bengals to win again and I can't stand to watch the NFL junior varsity teams play in NFC West. It amazes me that a team can have a record of 3-7 and be only two games out of the division lead. This week will be a difficult week for many teams in the NFL. Six teams will be playing on Thanksgiving, only giving them three days to prepare since their last game. But why should the fan care about that? It just means more days of the week that football can be a part of our lives. New England at Detroit Like many of the previous Lions Thanksgiving games, they will be a large underdog at home. The Patriots are coming off a big win against the Colts as Tom Brady picked apart the weak defense. It will be like déjà vu this week. The Lions were torched by the Cowboys last week. Outside of the defensive line, Detroit has one of the worst defenses in the league. Swink's prediction: Patriots win on the road New Orleans at Dallas The Cowboys are finally starting to play up to their potential, winning in back-to-back weeks. They have a great opportunity to keep their offensive momentum going against the Saints. Unfortunately for them, their defense has many holes that will be easy for Drew Brees and the Saints to find. Swink's prediction: Saints win on the road Cincinnati at NY Jets Only the Bengals could have a 31-14 lead at halftime, get shut out in the second half and allow the worst-ranked team in the league to score 35 points in the final two quarters, winning by a score of 49-31. The Jets will blow them out of the water this week. The have won eight of their last nine games while Cincinnati is trying to win their first game since Week 3. Swink's prediction: Jets win at home Green Bay at Atlanta The Falcons have the best record in the NFC, but they'll have their hands full this week when the Packers come to town. Aaron Rodgers has led his team to four straight wins while the defense has only allowed 10 points in the last three games. This is going to be the game of the week and I give the slight edge to Atlanta, who has the home-field advantage. Swink's prediction: Falcons win at home Pittsburgh at Buffalo Buffalo is on fire! Maybe not, but they have won two straight games. Bills fans don't need to get too excited though because the Steelers are going to end their winning streak. Pittsburgh loves to run the ball and the Bills' 32-ranked rush defense will definitely be seeing a lot of Rashard Mendenhall. Swink's prediction: Steelers win on the road Carolina at Cleveland Even though Cleveland has only won three games this season, they have been playing competitive football. Carolina, on the other hand, has been plagued by injuries and is just trying to scrape enough healthy players together to make a football team. It has been difficult for Carolina to build momentum on the road and I don't see this week being any different. Swink's prediction: Browns win at home Jacksonville at NY Giants The Jags have won three games in a row while the Giants have dropped two straight division games. Momentum is in Jacksonville's favor, but it's not easy to play the Giants on the road. New York has one of the most complete football teams in the league, but has had a problem this season turning the ball over. If they eliminate that, they shouldn't have any trouble with Jacksonville. Swink's prediction: Giants win at home Minnesota at Washington Both of these teams are bad. Minnesota has surpassed Dallas as the most underperforming team in the NFC and is competing with Cincinnatti for league-wide honors. Washington will have the edge because they are playing at home and are working better as a team than the Vikings. Minnesota has lot more issues than just the play on the field and that's more damaging than a Brett Favre interception. Swink's prediction: Redskins win at home Tennessee at Houston After starting the season with such promise, Houston has been a complete disaster over the last four games. They do have a chance to rebound this week against a turmoil-ridden Titans team. They have dropped three consecutive games and have an issue at quarterback. The worst part about Tennessee is they have issues in the locker room, but they're only one game out of the division lead. Swink's prediction: Texans win at home Kansas City at Seattle The Chiefs did exactly as I expected last week against the Cardinals. Their running backs amounted for 197 yards and two touchdowns as they showed why they have the best backfield in the league. The NFC West division is a joke and it doesn't really matter who wins. It will suck for teams like Tampa Bay and the Giants who will have four more wins than Seattle and will be watching them in the playoffs. Swink's prediction: Chiefs win on the road Miami at Oakland Maimi was shutout last week against the Bears and Oakland could only muster up a field goal against the Steelers. Both teams should be able to get their running games going this week. The Raiders have a slight edge with Darren McFadden but the Dolphins combination of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams is always dangerous. I don't think it will be a very high-scoring game because neither has been successful at passing the ball. Swink's prediction: Raiders win at home St. Louis at Denver This game boils down to the fact that the Broncos are better playing at home than the Rams are on the road. St. Louis has two road wins in their last 48 games. I give the edge to Denver. They have a dangerous passing game that will give the Rams' secondary a lot of trouble. This will be just another loss for the NFC West. Swink's prediction: Broncos win at home Philadelphia at Chicago Michael Vick versus the Bears defense is going to be a great matchup. It's been difficult for any team to contain Vick but if any defense can do it, it's Chicago's. On the other side of the ball, Jay Cutler should have many opportunities to pick apart the Eagles secondary. Running back Matt Forte may struggle because the front seven of Philadelphia have looked extremely tough as of late. Swink's prediction: Bears win at home Tampa Bay at Baltimore The Bucs have won four of the last five games, but this week could come back down to reality a bit. The Ravens are no joke on defense and will give Josh Freeman headaches all game. LeGarrett Blount and Cadillac Williams will have a difficult time trying to break into the secondary. Look for Ravens' running back Ray Rice to have a big game in rushing and receiving. Swink's prediction: Ravens win at home San Diego at Indianapolis It will be interesting to see how Peyton Manning and the Colts respond after a tough loss last week against the Patriots. The Chargers pose an interesting matchup to the banged-up Colts offense. They still rank first in the league and have played well against high-powered offenses. They are on the road this week, which poses quite an issue. They only have one road win this season and Indy is no cake walk at home. Swink's prediction: Colts win at home San Francisco at Arizona I don't know anybody who's excited about witnessing the two worst teams in the worst division play Monday night. The Cardinals are statistically one of the worst teams in the league, but I give them the edge in this game because San Francisco has yet to win a game on the road. In my opinion, go to the library and find a good book to read. It will be more entertaining than watching this game. Swink's prediction: Cardinals win at home If you want to argue a prediction or point I made, please e-mail me at bryan.swink-02@mcguire.af.mil. Give a detailed explanation of why you disagree and some responses will be posted in next week's column with, of course, my explanation of why you are wrong.